Royal Vopak (Vopak) has sold Vopak Barging Europe to Interstream Barging, an existing joint venture of Vopak and Van der Sluijs Groep. In this way, Interstream Barging, which is established in Dordrecht (the Netherlands) and Düsseldorf (Germany), will extend its existing area of operations of transporting mineral oils into the shipment of chemical products.
This cooperation has already been announced in March 2008. As the necessary approvals have been received, the takeover of Vopak Barging Europe by Interstream Barging has now officially been completed. The organisation will start to operate as one company as of 1 July 2008.
The merger of Interstream Barging with Vopak Barging Europe and Van der Sluijs Tankrederij will be in the form of an acquisition of all of Vopak Barging Europe’s shares as well as the shares of Van der Sluijs Tankrederij by Interstream Barging and has no consequences for the employees of either organisation. After the integration, Interstream Barging will have a fleet of 95 inland vessels available and will, therefore, be one of the largest tanker transporters in north-western Europe. This increase in scale will allow Interstream Barging to further strengthen its position and offer customers more flexibility, which will provide increased transport certainty.
Profile of Vopak
Royal Vopak is the world's largest independent tank terminal operator specialising in the storage and handling of liquid and gaseous chemical and oil products. On request, Vopak can provide complementary logistics services for customers at its terminals. Vopak operates 76 terminals with a storage capacity of over 26 million cbm in 31 countries. The terminals are strategically located for users and the major shipping routes. The majority of its customers are companies operating in the chemical and oil industries, for which Vopak stores a large variety of products destined for a wide range of industries.
Profile of Van der Sluijs Groep
Van der Sluijs Groep combines all activities involved in selling, storing and transporting mineral oils by land and over water. Part of the product flow within this integrated chain is executed by the company itself, while the remainder is offered as a service to oil companies and traders. With annual revenue of over € 3.8 billion, Van der Sluijs Groep is one of the largest independent companies in the Netherlands.
The 12 terminals in the Netherlands and Belgium are the core of the group. The trading department is responsible for the purchase of all mineral oils for the group and operates on the international oil markets, focusing on Western Europe. The trading company is responsible for oil sales in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.